Security Company for Sale and What a Security Business Is Worth
Enter the company's revenue and owner earnings and read a range benchmarked to what guard, alarm and monitoring companies actually closed at, whether you are setting an asking price or checking a listing before you make an offer.
Estimated business value
Method breakdown
What moves this number
Estimate, not a certified appraisal. Your figures are not stored.
US security companies sold across 2021 to 2025 at a median of 2.61x seller discretionary earnings, or 0.68x annual revenue, with a lower quartile of 1.95x and an upper quartile of 3.29x. The median company sold for $750,000, exactly its median asking price, on median revenue of $862,943 and median owner earnings of $241,687, after a median 186 days on the market.
The median deal finances. An SBA buyer drawing $80,000 a year can finance about $887,610 on the median earnings, 18.3 percent above the median sale. But at $750,000 the deal is well above the $350,000 line, so the lender must order an independent valuation and the loan cannot exceed the value it supports. Prices have also moved fast: the median sale rose from $342,500 in 2021 to $1,078,000 in 2025. This is a benchmark and an estimator, not a certified appraisal.
Security companies, median sale and ask by year
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
$343k
$875k
$928k
$750k
$1.08M
BizBuySell, security businesses sold 2021 to 2025. Light bar median ask, dark bar median sale. The median sale rose 215 percent from 2021 to 2025.
Closed transactions
01What security companies actually sold for
These are sale prices from security companies sold across the five years 2021 to 2025, next to the multiples on current listings. The source describes them as companies providing armed and unarmed guards, installing surveillance systems and cameras, door and window monitoring devices and monitoring services, often with fire protection bundled in, for residential, commercial, government and event clients. If you have been pricing from a listing site's instant estimate, our comparison of BizBuySell valuation alternatives explains what those tools leave out.
Median sale price
$750,000
What the middle security company actually closed at, 2021 to 2025
Median asking price
$750,000
What the same sold businesses were listed at
Median revenue
$862,943
Annual sales of the middle security company sold
Median owner earnings (SDE)
$241,687
Seller discretionary earnings, a 28.0 percent owner margin
| Security companies, 2021 to 2025 | Lower quartile | Median | Average | Upper quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seller discretionary earnings multiple, sold | 1.95x | 2.61x | 2.73x | 3.29x |
| Seller discretionary earnings multiple, listed | 2.34x | 3.35x | 4.23x | 4.02x |
| Revenue multiple, sold | 0.49x | 0.68x | 0.85x | 1.14x |
| Revenue multiple, listed | 0.61x | 0.86x | 2.59x | 1.93x |
| Revenue, sold | $481,731 | $862,943 | $1,344,101 | $1,938,526 |
| Owner earnings (SDE), sold | $128,400 | $241,687 | $340,407 | $456,841 |
| Owner earnings (SDE), listed | $161,081 | $250,000 | $347,250 | $400,000 |
Source: BizBuySell security business valuation benchmarks, businesses reported sold on the platform 2021 to 2025 and recent listings, read October 2026. No sold count is published. In the listed rows the average sits above the upper quartile, which happens when a few very large listings pull the mean. Benchmarks, not quotes.
Three things stand out. First, the middle of the market pays more per dollar of earnings than the median multiple suggests. The median sale over the median earnings is 3.10x, above the published median multiple of 2.61x and third highest of the 16 service categories BizBuySell compares, behind only funeral homes and laundromats. Multiplying medians undershoots here: $241,687 at 2.61x is $630,803, 15.9 percent below the median sale. Larger companies sell at higher multiples, and they pull the median price up.
Second, listings ask a lot more than buyers pay. The median listing asks 3.35x earnings, 28.4 percent above the median sold multiple, while listed and sold earnings are close ($250,000 against $241,687). Working it through, companies that closed had asked about 2.93x; that is 12.5 percent below the typical listing, and the average sale to ask ratio of 0.89 takes off another 11 percent. Only catering and funeral homes negotiate harder in the peer set.
Third, read any single year with care. The 2024 median sale of $750,000 on median earnings of $197,881 is 3.79x, above the five year upper quartile, while the average multiple that year was 3.23x. BizBuySell says more small companies sold in 2024, so the medians in that row come from a different mix of businesses. The steadier signal is the margin: median earnings rose from 23.4 percent of revenue in 2021 to 35.9 percent in 2025.
Each point of owner margin on $862,943 of revenue is $8,629 of earnings, about $22,523 of value at the median multiple, so check the margin the seller presents against three years of returns and the payroll registers. If you are working out how to calculate SDE for the company in front of you, do that first, then find its row in section 05.
| Year sold | Median sale | Median ask | Average sale to ask | Average SDE multiple | Median SDE | SDE as share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $342,500 | $419,498 | 0.86 | 2.13x | $188,915 | 23.4% |
| 2022 | $874,500 | $924,500 | 0.90 | 2.71x | $317,384 | 26.2% |
| 2023 | $927,500 | $1,137,500 | 0.89 | 2.66x | $395,371 | 26.8% |
| 2024 | $750,000 | $750,000 | 0.93 | 3.23x | $197,881 | 36.0% |
| 2025 | $1,078,000 | $1,220,000 | 0.88 | 2.92x | $386,716 | 35.9% |
Source: BizBuySell yearly transaction, multiple and financial tables for security businesses, as published. The five year average SDE multiple is 2.73x and the five year average revenue multiple 0.85x.
Our calculation
02The median security deal finances, and the lender orders the valuation
Security companies at this size go to an operator with an SBA 7(a) loan, or to a larger security firm adding contracts and territory. What a financed buyer can borrow sets a practical ceiling. The table runs a loan at 10 years, 10.5 percent, 1.25x debt service coverage and a 10 percent injection against the median $241,687 of owner earnings, at each level of salary the buyer takes out. Everything in it is computed here, not quoted.
SBA-supportable price at an $80,000 draw, against the median sale
Scale $0 to $1,000,000
$265,700
What lower quartile earnings of $128,400 support at the same draw.
$350,000
Above this price the lender must order an outside valuation.
$750,000
What the median security company sold for.
$887,610
What $241,687 supports at an $80,000 draw.
| Owner draw the buyer takes | Left for debt service | Supportable purchase price | As a multiple of $241,687 SDE |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 (buyer takes no salary) | $241,687 | $1,326,784 | 5.49x |
| $60,000 | $181,687 | $997,403 | 4.13x |
| $80,000 | $161,687 | $887,610 | 3.67x |
| $100,000 | $141,687 | $777,816 | 3.22x |
| $105,067 (the most a buyer can draw at $750,000) | $136,620 | $750,000 | 3.10x |
Computed here. Annual loan constant 0.16192 for a 10 year loan at 10.5 percent, so the supportable price is (SDE minus draw) divided by 1.25, divided by 0.16192, divided by 0.90. Illustrative arithmetic, not a loan offer or a credit decision.
Work it backwards and a financed buyer could take $105,067 a year and still pay exactly the median price, or needs $216,620 of earnings to pay $750,000 and draw $80,000. The valuation rule matters more here than in most of the service businesses we price. SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026, lets the lender do its own valuation only when the business purchase price is $350,000 or less. Above that, the lender orders a valuation from a qualified source (ASA, CBA, ABV, CVA or BCA credentialed), reports prepared for the seller or the buyer cannot be used, and the valuation must support the price; any amount above it has to be paid with equity. The median, the 2025 median and the upper quartile security sales are all above the line.
Cash to close on the median company
$90,188
A $750,000 purchase at 10 percent down is a $75,000 injection and a $675,000 loan, with a 3 percent SBA guaranty fee of $15,188 on the $506,250 guaranteed portion. Annual debt service is about $109,296, covered 2.21 times by $241,687 of earnings before the owner is paid, leaving $132,391, or $52,391 after an $80,000 salary. Payroll working capital comes on top, and in a guard company it is not small (see section 03).
The lower quartile company
$265,700
A company earning $128,400 is worth $250,380 at the lower quartile 1.95x and $335,124 at the median 2.61x. A buyer drawing $80,000 can finance about $265,700 on those earnings, enough for the 1.95x price but not the median multiple. Both prices sit under $350,000, so the lender may value it in house. Small security companies are priced by what they pay the owner.
What makes security companies different
03Three businesses under one name, and a payroll that comes first
The word security covers three different businesses that get priced three different ways. Most companies for sale mix at least two of them, so the first job is to split revenue and earnings by type and value each piece on its own terms.
Guard services
Armed and unarmed officers on posts and patrols, billed by the hour under service contracts. Revenue is large and labor is most of the cost, so value rests on contract terms, bill rate against wage, and how many posts one client holds.
Installation
Cameras, access control, alarm panels and fire systems installed for a project fee. Margins can be good, but each job ends, so an installer with no service or monitoring contracts behind it is valued closer to a contractor than to a recurring business.
Monitoring and service
Alarm monitoring, video monitoring and maintenance contracts billed every month. This is the revenue buyers in the industry pay the most for, and they usually price it on the monthly recurring revenue and how many accounts cancel each year, not on SDE alone.
Payroll working capital a buyer funds, illustrative
Lower quartile revenue, $481,731
$39,594 at 30 days, $59,391 at 45 days
Median revenue, $862,943
$70,927 at 30 days, $106,390 at 45 days
2025 median revenue, $1,077,500
$88,562 at 30 days, $132,842 at 45 days
Computed here as revenue times days of receivables over 365. Dark bar 30 days, light bar 45 days. Ask the seller for the real receivables aging and how much of it comes with the sale.
Officers are paid before clients pay
A guard company pays its officers every week or two and bills clients on terms. The gap is funded by the owner, and at the median company it can run to $70,927 at 30 days of receivables or $106,390 at 45. Agree in the letter of intent whether receivables come with the sale or stay with the seller, and size the working capital line before closing.
Contracts have to move with the company
In an asset purchase, each client contract has to be assigned to the buyer, and many guard and monitoring contracts need the client's consent to do that. A stock purchase keeps the contracts in the same company. Read the assignment and change of control clauses in the top contracts before you settle on a structure.
The state approves the people who run the agency
Security licensing follows people. Florida requires the application of every individual, partner or corporate officer to be approved by the state "before the individual, partner, or corporate officer assumes his or her duties," while investors who do not participate in, direct or control operations do not file (Florida Statutes 493.6105). Agency licenses run for three years and each branch office needs its own (493.6111). Other states license private patrol operators in their own way, so check each state where the company has posts and build the approval time into the closing date.
No environmental review triggered by the industry
Security guard, patrol and security systems services (NAICS 5616) are not on the list of environmentally sensitive industries in Appendix 6 of SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, so the industry itself does not force a Phase I the way a dry cleaner, a pest control company or a tow yard does. The usual rules still apply if commercial real estate is pledged. The outside business valuation is the extra step in a security closing, not the environmental report.
Sources: Florida Statutes sections 493.6105 and 493.6111 (2025); SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026, Appendix 6 and Appendix 15 (changes of ownership and valuation). A summary for pricing, not legal advice.
Our calculation
04What the company is worth once the owner steps out
Seller discretionary earnings include the owner's pay. In a security company the owner rarely stands a post, but usually sells the contracts, builds the schedule and covers the shifts nobody else will. An investor buyer has to pay someone to do that. The rows below replace the owner with a hired supervisor or a general manager at the Bureau of Labor Statistics national median wage for May 2025, plus employer FICA.
The same $750,000 price
3.10x
to an owner who runs it
4.13x
with a supervisor hired
5.87x
with a general manager hired
| Who does the owner work | Earnings left | Price as a multiple | SBA, no draw | SBA, $80,000 draw |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner runs sales, scheduling and payroll | $241,687 | 3.10x | $1,326,784 | $887,610 |
| Operations supervisor hired ($60,219) | $181,468 | 4.13x | $996,201 | $557,027 |
| General manager hired ($113,861) | $127,826 | 5.87x | $701,724 | $262,549 |
Computed here. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, national estimates for May 2025: first-line supervisors of security workers (SOC 33-1091), median $55,940 a year, 81,480 jobs; general and operations managers (SOC 11-1021), median $105,770. Plus 7.65 percent employer FICA. Security guards (SOC 33-9032) earn a median $38,020 and security and fire alarm systems installers (SOC 49-2098) $60,070.
To an operator who will run sales and scheduling the way the seller did, $750,000 is 3.10x earnings, inside the middle half of sales. With a supervisor hired it is 4.13x, above the upper quartile, and the loan reaches only $557,027 at an $80,000 draw, so an investor needs more equity or a seller note on full standby. With a general manager the price is 5.87x and the loan reaches $262,549. That is why the buyer who pays the most for a security company is usually another security company, which adds the contracts to an existing schedule and office.
Find your row
05What a security company at your earnings is worth
Each row takes an earnings level and prices it at the lower quartile, median and upper quartile multiple, next to what an SBA buyer drawing $80,000 a year could finance before working capital.
| Owner earnings (SDE) | At 1.95x | At 2.61x | At 3.29x | SBA-supportable, $80,000 draw |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $128,400 (lower quartile sold) | $250,380 | $335,124 | $422,436 | $265,700 |
| $175,000 | $341,250 | $456,750 | $575,750 | $521,520 |
| $216,620 (what $750,000 needs at an $80,000 draw) | $422,409 | $565,378 | $712,680 | $750,000 |
| $241,687 (median sold) | $471,290 | $630,803 | $795,150 | $887,610 |
| $340,407 (average sold) | $663,794 | $888,462 | $1,119,939 | $1,429,551 |
| $456,841 (upper quartile sold) | $890,840 | $1,192,355 | $1,503,007 | $2,068,736 |
Computed here. SBA column on the same terms as section 02, before payroll working capital. Illustrative arithmetic, not a loan offer.
At lower quartile earnings the loan reaches the 1.95x price but not the median multiple. From $175,000 of earnings up, the loan reaches beyond the median multiple price, and from the median earnings up it reaches beyond the upper quartile price as well. So for small security companies the price is set by what the buyer can live on, and for larger ones by the market and by the outside valuation the lender orders. If your numbers sit between rows, the estimator at the top of the page will place them.
Value drivers
06What moves a security company between the quartiles
The distance between the lower and upper quartile multiple is 1.95x to 3.29x, which on $241,687 of earnings is the difference between $471,290 and $795,150. The scale below shows where the published readings fall.
Security company earnings multiples on one scale
0x to 4.5x seller discretionary earnings
1.95x
Lower quartile
2.61x
Median multiple
2.73x
Average multiple
3.10x
Median sale over median SDE
3.29x
Upper quartile
3.35x
Median listing asks
BizBuySell security benchmarks, 2021 to 2025. Dark band, 1.95x to 3.29x, the middle half of sales. The 3.10x reading (median sale over median earnings) is computed here.
Contract terms and concentration
A guard company is worth its contracts. Read every one for term, notice period, rate increase clauses and whether it can be assigned to a new owner. A company with one client holding a third of the posts is a very different purchase from one with forty clients, even at the same earnings.
Sales volume
BizBuySell states that a security company generating $2MM in revenue may command an earnings multiple of 3.3 or higher, while a smaller business with sales below $500k may trade below 2 times its discretionary earnings. Those thresholds sit close to the sold revenue quartiles of $481,731 and $1,938,526.
Wage pressure against bill rates
Officers earn a national median of $38,020 a year (BLS, May 2025, 1,283,470 jobs), and wage floors keep rising in many states and cities. If the contracts do not let the company pass wage increases through to clients, each increase comes straight out of SDE. Check the escalation clauses before you trust the earnings.
Licenses held by people, not the company
Security licensing is personal. In Florida, the application of every individual, partner or corporate officer must be approved by the state before that person assumes their duties (Florida Statutes 493.6105), so a new owner who will run the agency is approved first. Agency licenses run for three years and each branch office holds its own license (493.6111). Check the rules in every state the company operates in.
Insurance and claims history
Clients require liability coverage, and armed work raises the premium. Ask for five years of loss runs and the current premium, and price a jump in premium after the sale into the earnings you use.
The owner as the sales force
In smaller security companies the owner holds the client relationships and fills shifts when officers call out. A transition period with the seller, introductions to every contract holder, and a supervisor who already runs the schedule protect the revenue you are paying for.
Against other service businesses
07Security companies against 15 other service businesses
Security sits seventh of 16 service categories on average earnings multiple, 2.73x, the middle of the pack, as BizBuySell itself puts it, and the source suggests heavy labor, licensing and low barriers to entry hold it back. But the median sale of $750,000 is the second highest of the 16, behind funeral homes, and on median sale over median earnings security ranks third. The owner margin of 28.0 percent is 12th. The nearest neighbors are staffing agencies, another labor business billed by the hour (security companies earn 19.7 percent less at the median and still sell for 11.9 percent more), and locksmith businesses, which a security company often buys. SDE multiples by industry shows the whole market.
| Service category | Median revenue | Median SDE | Average SDE multiple | Median sale over median SDE | Owner margin | Median sale | Sale to ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funeral homes and mortuaries | $750,000 | $318,000 | 4.28x | 4.72x | 42.4% | $1,500,000 | 0.85 |
| Laundromats | $219,878 | $76,560 | 3.65x | 3.27x | 34.8% | $250,000 | 0.92 |
| Medical billing | $614,000 | $180,000 | 3.63x | 2.78x | 29.3% | $500,000 | 1.01 |
| Waste management and recycling | $710,000 | $176,635 | 3.31x | 2.97x | 24.9% | $525,000 | 0.91 |
| Commercial laundry | $198,000 | $112,000 | 2.83x | 2.23x | 56.6% | $250,000 | 0.92 |
| Staffing agencies | $1,306,129 | $301,147 | 2.74x | 2.22x | 23.1% | $670,000 | 0.90 |
| Security businesses | $862,943 | $241,687 | 2.73x | 3.10x | 28.0% | $750,000 | 0.89 |
| Property management | $565,658 | $167,000 | 2.70x | 2.38x | 29.5% | $397,500 | 0.94 |
| All service businesses | $455,000 | $146,927 | 2.62x | 2.21x | 32.3% | $325,000 | 0.92 |
| Architecture and engineering | $1,090,000 | $332,171 | 2.59x | 2.23x | 30.5% | $742,000 | 0.90 |
| Landscaping and yard service | $708,412 | $187,761 | 2.46x | 2.26x | 26.5% | $425,000 | 0.93 |
| Pest control | $263,597 | $124,184 | 2.40x | 2.01x | 47.1% | $249,000 | 0.91 |
| Locksmith businesses | $550,776 | $166,567 | 2.36x | 1.80x | 30.2% | $300,000 | 0.94 |
| Cleaning and janitorial | $433,327 | $136,326 | 2.19x | 1.91x | 31.5% | $260,000 | 0.92 |
| Dry cleaners | $360,000 | $132,513 | 2.09x | 1.89x | 36.8% | $250,000 | 0.93 |
| Catering | $931,891 | $212,204 | 2.00x | 1.57x | 22.8% | $332,500 | 0.87 |
| Law firms | $921,000 | $281,411 | 1.96x | 1.78x | 30.6% | $500,000 | 0.90 |
Source: BizBuySell service sector comparison, 2021 to 2025, as published on the security business page. Owner margin and median sale over median SDE computed here. Ordered by average SDE multiple, with the all-service row in its place.
Methods
08The five ways a security company gets valued
You will meet most of them in one sale. A lender counts earnings after the owner's salary, the qualified appraiser the lender hires reconciles several methods, an industry buyer counts the monthly recurring revenue, and the seller usually counts the vehicles and equipment. Knowing which one the other side is using is most of the negotiation.
Seller discretionary earnings multiple
The primary method for an owner-run security company and the one an SBA lender underwrites. Normalized SDE times a multiple, where half of all sales landed between 1.95x and 3.29x. Normalize first: family members on payroll, a personal vehicle on the books, overtime the owner covered personally, and one-time costs such as a large insurance claim all have to be sorted out before the multiple means anything.
Revenue multiple
Security companies sold at a median 0.68x revenue and an average of 0.85x. Use it only as a cross-check. A guard company and a monitoring company can bill the same amount and keep very different shares of it, which is why revenue multiples in this sector range from 0.49x to 1.14x across the middle half.
EBITDA multiple
Once a general manager runs operations and the owner is out of the schedule, buyers count EBITDA after a market wage for every role. Regional guard firms and integrators bought by larger security groups are priced this way, and that multiple is not comparable with an SDE multiple on a main street sale.
Recurring monthly revenue
For alarm and video monitoring accounts, industry buyers usually price the contracts on the monthly recurring revenue they bring and how many of them cancel each year. Ask for the account list with start dates, monthly charge, contract term and cancellations by year, and value that block separately from installation and guard revenue.
Asset value of vehicles and equipment
Patrol vehicles, radios, cameras and monitoring hardware set a floor under the price. In a guard company the assets are usually small against the price; in an installer they include vans, tools and parts inventory, which should be counted at closing.
Our guide to business valuation for an SBA loan lists what the lender and its appraiser will ask for, and business valuation cost shows what each kind of report costs.
Questions
Security company valuation questions, answered against the sold record
How much is a security company worth?
The median US security company sold between 2021 and 2025 went for $750,000, on median revenue of $862,943 and median owner earnings of $241,687. Half of all sales landed between 1.95x and 3.29x owner earnings, which on $241,687 is $471,290 to $795,150. Contract quality, recurring monitoring revenue and size decide where a company lands.
How do you value a security company?
Start from normalized seller discretionary earnings, the profit plus the owner pay and one-time costs. Apply a multiple between about 1.95x and 3.29x, higher for larger companies with long contracts and monitoring revenue. Check the result against revenue at 0.49x to 1.14x, against the recurring monthly revenue of any monitoring accounts, and against what an SBA lender will finance.
What is the multiple for a security company?
Security companies sold at a median 2.61 times seller discretionary earnings and an average of 2.73x across 2021 to 2025, with a lower quartile of 1.95x and an upper quartile of 3.29x. On revenue the median was 0.68x and the average 0.85x. Listings asked a median 3.35x, which buyers did not pay.
How much does a security company make?
The median security company sold between 2021 and 2025 made $862,943 in revenue and $241,687 in owner earnings, a 28.0 percent owner margin. The lower quartile earned $128,400 on $481,731 of revenue, and the upper quartile $456,841 on $1,938,526. Those earnings include the pay of an owner who usually runs sales and scheduling.
Is a security company profitable?
On the sold record, yes. The median owner margin is 28.0 percent, a little below the 32.3 percent median for all service businesses because labor is most of the cost, and the median company returned about 32.2 percent of its sale price in owner earnings a year. Margins in the yearly table rose from 23.4 percent in 2021 to 35.9 percent in 2025.
How much does it cost to buy a security company?
The median security company sold for $750,000. Financed with an SBA 7(a) loan at 10 percent down, that is a $75,000 injection plus a $15,188 guaranty fee, about $90,188 of cash at closing before working capital. A company at the lower quartile of earnings priced at 1.95x costs about $250,380.
Can you get an SBA loan to buy a security company?
Usually, yes. At 10 years, 10.5 percent, 1.25x coverage and 10 percent down, the median $241,687 of owner earnings supports about $887,610 if the buyer draws $80,000 a year, 18.3 percent above the median sale. Because the median price is above $350,000, the lender must order an independent valuation from a qualified source.
How long does it take to sell a security company?
BizBuySell reports a median of 186 days on the market for security companies that sold, about six months from listing to an accepted deal. Lender review, the outside valuation, state license approval for the new owner and assignment of client contracts usually add two to three months before closing.
How much does a business valuation cost for a security company?
A formal valuation commonly runs $1,500 to $8,000 for a calculation engagement and $5,000 to $15,000 for a full conclusion of value, which is 0.20 to 1.07 percent and 0.67 to 2.0 percent of a $750,000 sale. For an SBA purchase above $350,000 the lender orders it, and what the buyer pays for it counts toward the equity injection.
Asked another way
What security owners and buyers ask when they are deciding
These come up once the numbers are understood and the decision is the real problem, whether that is answering a listing, buying without a license of your own or splitting monitoring from guard revenue. Answered against the same sold record.
Is a security company listed at 3.5 times earnings a fair price?
Usually not. Listings asked a median 3.35x but sold companies closed at a median 2.61x and an upper quartile of 3.29x, and BizBuySell ties 3.3x or more to companies with about $2 million of revenue. A 3.5x asking price on a smaller guard company needs long assignable contracts or monitoring revenue to hold up.
Can I buy a security company without a security license?
Often yes, but plan for the state approval and a licensed manager. In Florida, a person who will run the agency is approved before taking up the role, while passive investors who do not direct operations need not apply. On the median company, hiring an operations supervisor takes earnings to $181,468 and makes a $750,000 price 4.13x.
Is buying a security guard company a good investment?
For an operator who can win and keep contracts, the numbers work. The median company sold for $750,000, about 3.10 times its earnings, and the median deal finances with $137,610 of room at an $80,000 draw. The risks are client concentration, wage increases the contracts cannot pass through, and payroll that has to be funded before clients pay.
How are alarm monitoring companies valued differently from guard companies?
Monitoring accounts are usually priced on their monthly recurring revenue and attrition, because the contract keeps paying after the installer leaves. Guard revenue is priced on SDE, because it is mostly labor billed by the hour. A company with both should be valued in two pieces, then added together.
Do I need a formal appraisal or is an estimate enough?
An estimate is enough to set an asking range or decide whether a listing deserves an offer. For an SBA purchase above $350,000, which covers the median security company, the lender orders an independent valuation from a qualified source, and the loan cannot exceed the value it supports. Know the range before you pay for that report.
Benchmarks behind the estimate
Know the range before the lender's appraiser does
Enter revenue and owner earnings, for your own company or for a listing you are considering, and read a value range against real security company sales. An estimate in a few minutes, before you pay a broker or an appraiser.